Period 4: Turmoil in the Middle East, Day 11 - Class Recap

Outside the World Trade Center in downtown Portland, near the waterfront. All sorts of countries and cultures coming together there! Picture taken by Mr. Fritz on April 17th.
Hello class!

I think that was a generally good class! There really has to be some way to cut down on the side chatter and lack of focus at times, but that has been an issue all year with you guys. Other than that, I think that this was a really interesting and good day. A whole lot to talk about, so let's get on with the recap!

Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What are the factors to consider in the development of a Palestinian state?

Soundtrack: "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey. Lyrics here. Chosen because we are continuing to think about what brings people together.

AGENDA 5/14/09:
News Brief
Ping Pong Diplomacy/Music in Pyongyang
Promises
Final Paper Folders

Homework: Continue to work on your Israeli-Palestinian project. Decide on what topic you want to do (for your research paper), bring a source to take notes on next class. Read blog recap!

This will be talked about a little more in the "Final Paper Folders" section. Basically, I want you to decide on what you want to investigate for your final paper, and bring one source in (like a news article, book, magazine, etc) that relates to your topic and that you can take notes on. We will help you do this in class! All I need for you to do is to pick a topic, and choose something to take notes on about.

For anyone that was not in class today, or that has lost (already) the assignment sheet, here it is to download:

Historical Investigation Research Project - Overview
Again, we will be talking about this much more. In fact, for the rest of the year, this is what we will be doing. As I noted in class, I am thinking that we will have about half the time for the rest of this unit (and projects), and the other half to developing the paper.

News Brief: After a slow start to this section, Maritza started us off well by saying that she had heard something about the President of Guatemala. This was with good reason - there is a huge outrage in that country because he is believed to have ordered the killing of a lawyer! Interesting story! Here's your source: AP - Guatemala president seeks support at home, abroad.

Maddie wanted to know about the laws in Mexico about emigration (if people are moving OUT of a country, that is called "emigration" - if they are moving INTO a country, that is "immigration"). This appears to be a good breakdown of the situation: A Primer on Mexico’s Immigration and Emigration Laws.

Nikola talked about China remembering the one year anniversary of an incredibly deadly earthquake. Source: CNN.com - China marks earthquake anniversary. That was certainly a huge event that will effect that region for a long time to come. I wanted to post a picture of school desks holding up the ceiling of a building that had otherwise completely collapsed. Here is your evidence:


That was after the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake. Though I will admit that this is a pretty unlikely outcome, given a really strong earthquake, at least it is better than nothing. We do those earthquake drills for a reason! :-)

I also talked (for whatever reason) about me being in a "Stop Plate Tectonics" club in high school. I will try to remember to wear the T-Shirt tomorrow, if I can find it!

Abraham, you are up for next class on Monday. Any news article about anything currently going on outside the United States.

Ping Pong Diplomacy/Music in Pyongyang: Before watching Promises and talking about the final paper, I wanted to show you a couple of really famous instances of creative ways to get countries talking (which is what your Israeli-Palestinian project is about). One of the most interesting that I can remember (and as highlighted by the fantastic movie Forrest Gump) was the "Ping Pong Diplomacy" that happened between the United States and China in the 1970s. This was an HUGE deal. Here's the video we watched in class:



Maddie helpfully pointed out that the Ping Pong Diplomacy wouldn't really work for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, because neither side wants to make amends. This thought led directly in to a more current situation, with North Korea and the United States, where music was used to bridge long held divides (partially). Here's the video we watched in class about the New York Philharmonic playing in Pyongyang:



I also mentioned an excellent report that Christiane Amanpour did for CNN as a result of the trip, where you get to see some really interesting footage of what life is like in one of the most secretive countries in the entire world. Here is the link to the first YouTube video in the series - Notes from North Korea (1 of 6).

Promises: We watched about 20 minutes of this movie, pausing from time to time to write down thoughts and questions to the children in the film. From what I could tell, everyone knew what was going on, was actively involved in watching the film, and had some incredibly interesting thoughts to share. I am really excited to continue this up next class! Please bring those conversation pieces to class!

Final Paper Folders:As I think Mrs. DeFrance and I said in class, this "historical investigation" project is one that every freshman at Westview is working on, as part of the common assessment for Social Studies. If you remember, the first semester version of this was the visual metaphor. Thus, this is a really big deal!

Mrs. DeFrance talked about her really amazing folder system for helping you write papers. Seriously, if I had this in high school, I think I would have written 10 page long papers with ease. It is really a pretty incredible way to keep track of everything. Please keep everything in that folder - including all the sheets of paper tucked inside!

I linked to the final paper assignment sheet above. We read that together in class, as I tried as best as I could to introduce this as something that you do not have to stress out about. Make it interesting to you! After reading everything together, we started brainstorming ideas for "issues of global significance" on my laptop, which I projected. Here are your results:

• Heritage of people
• Climate Change
• Genocides
• War
• Peace
• Sports
• Children across the world
• Music
• Homelessness
• AIDS/Diseases
• Education system
• Medicine
• Science
• Resources – oil, water
• Cars
• Industry
• Technology
• Government
• Art
• Religion
• Communication
• Fashion

Pick one of these, or any other issue for your homework, and bring in something to start you off on the project on Monday! I want you to be excited at finding out information about the world, that you may not have really had the chance to learn about in class this year!

Put it this way, there are entire college courses devoted to just these topics. In fact, I was in one last year at Western Oregon University! It was called History 492: World Problems. I ended up writing a 10 page paper on the search for Osama bin Laden. It was a really interesting class!

If you are still totally unsure about what to do, try a Google search for "world problems" or "globalization" or something along those lines. If none of that sounds interesting at all, come talk to me and I am sure we can get you started. :-)
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Other news of interest: Brandon Roy was selected to the All-NBA Second Team! This is a really huge honor! The first time a Blazer has made All-NBA since Clyde Drexler in 1992. Source: BlazersEdge.com. Brandon Roy is simply incredible. What a guy.

The Office Season Five finale is tonight (Thursday)! It is totally worth checking out, even if you have never seen it. The fun starts at 9:00 PM, on NBC (Channel 8 for most of you). The Office is my favorite television show of all time. I am really quite sad that the season will be over and we will have to wait until the fall for a new episode! Every year this happens, and there is a huge cliffhanger, and it just kills me.

There is a TON of sporting action going on. I am sure that Westview's spring sports are all worth checking out. Add to that two Game Sevens in the NHL, the Lakers-Rockets and Celtics-Magic series in the NBA (both Game Sixes), and Major League Baseball, all tonight. Wow. It is a great time to be a sports fan!

With that, I think I will sign off! I hope everyone is doing well! Have a wonderful weekend! Keep in touch and keep working hard on everything we are doing!